Liquid Telecom, a leading pan-African telecoms group and a subsidiary of Econet Global, has been named as Best African Wholesale Carrier at the annual Global Carrier Awards 2017, in London, UK.

According to a statement from the firm, Liquid Telecom has been recognised for its outstanding achievements in the African wholesale telecoms sector, which it serves through the largest independent pan-African fibre network, for the "sixth consecutive year”.

The Global Carrier Awards celebrate excellence and innovation within wholesale telecoms, recognising the leading companies, projects and partnerships in today’s dynamic market, the statement added.

"To be recognised as Best African Wholesale Carrier for six years in a row is an amazing achievement... I would like to thank everyone at Liquid Telecom who contributed to this success.

"We will continue to further invest in our network and services, providing more people and businesses with access to fast and reliable connectivity in Africa,” Nic Rudnick, the Liquid Telecom Group chief executive officer, said in the statement.

"The award marks a busy and successful year for Liquid Telecom, which has continued to invest in new services while at the same time expanding its fibre network footprint that now stretches over 50,000 kilometres and connects more African countries on a single network than any other.”

Airtel business scooped Best Voice Service Innovation for Emerging Market at the awards on Wednesday.

Liquid Telecom has presence in 13 countries in eastern, central and southern Africa, providing carrier, enterprise and retail customers with high-speed, reliable connectivity and digital services.

The firm will provide regional start-ups that will participate in the DataHack4FI innovation competition access free high-speed internet and cloud-based services.

The DataHack for Financial Inclusion (DataHack4FI) competition brings together some of the brightest and innovative minds to harness the power of data science to develop new evidence-based solutions to improve financial inclusion. Innovators from six African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia, will participate in the contest.